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Vacancy (film)
Encyclopedia
Vacancy is a 2007 American horror
film, starring Luke Wilson
and Kate Beckinsale
. It was distributed by Screen Gems
and was released on April 20, 2007. Production was scheduled to commence in August 2006 with Nimród Antal signing on to direct it.
Early in the film's development, it was thought that Sarah Jessica Parker
was going to be in the film. A September 2006 article in The Hollywood Reporter
announced that Kate Beckinsale
had signed on to replace Parker.
) and Amy Fox (Kate Beckinsale
) take a wrong turn on a remote mountain road. When their car breaks down, they realize they are in a cell phone dead zone, with no reception. They then decide to check into a completely isolated motel in a rural area with a strangely off-putting manager called Mason (Frank Whaley
).
While in their room, a bored David takes a peek at the video tapes left on top of the television. As he watches the tapes, he realizes they are snuff film
s, taken in the very room in which they are staying. The couple are alarmed by this as well as loud, insistent banging coming from the door to the adjacent room, and try to run away. Men dressed in blue and wearing masks stop them, and they return to their room. David makes a run to the motel's payphone booth to no avail, escaping it just before a car crashes into it. The couple decides to lock themselves in the room when they notice a truck pull in. They try to warn the truck driver only to find out that he's actually there to buy a box of tapes of the snuff films.
David and Amy escape into a tunnel that they discover in the bathroom of their room. Two of the masked people chase them inside the tunnel, but the couple evade them. David and Amy end up inside the manager's lair, where they find video monitors taping the entire hotel. Amy tries to make a call to 911 but is interrupted before she can give the operator any useful information. The couple sneak back into the tunnel, making their way into the auto garage across the lot from the motel. Meanwhile, the police unit responding to Amy's call arrives and David and Amy run to him as he checks the rooms. They all get inside the police car but it has been sabotaged and the killers murder the policeman while he looks under the hood.
The couple run into one of the other motel rooms. David hides Amy in a space inside the ceiling, whilst he ventures out. The killers catch and stab David and he ends up lying unconscious in the doorway. When morning comes, Amy comes down from the ceiling and finds where the killers hid their car. As Amy drives away, a killer breaks into the car from the sun roof, and in her effort to fend him off while driving, Amy crashes the car into the motel, killing her attacker as well as another one of the masked men, revealed to be the gas station attendant that earlier "helped" the couple with their car troubles, who is crushed against the front of the car. She runs into the reception area where she finds a revolver. In an effort in reaching the revolver, an apoplectic Mason strangles her with a telephone cord. As they fight, Mason beats Amy severely. But in his effort to get a good final shot with his hand-held digital video camera, Mason throws Amy within reach of a revolver she had dropped, and she shoots Mason three times. Amy immediately runs to David to find that he is still barely alive. She searches Mason's body carefully for the telephone cord he had pulled out of the wall and tried to use to strangle her, calls 911 again and returns to caress David, who is barely conscious but alive.
giving the film an average rating of 55%. "Vacancy's restraint with gore is commendable", said one critic. The Rotten Tomatoes "Cream of the Crop" raters scored it a "rotten," average of 58%.
s, a making-of featurette, the full versions of the snuff film
s, and a trailer gallery. It was also released on Blu-ray Disc
and UMD
for the PSP
. Many versions shipped to Australia featured Sony DVD "anti-piracy" technology, which led to them being unreadable on most DVD players, including Sony DVD players. The DVD featured a commentary by Nimrod Antal, Kate Beckinsale and Luke Wilson, all of whom claimed they thought the film was a great addition to the horror genre and for not using gore for scares but using psychological horror.
as well as a toll-free phone number. In addition to the TV spots and trailers shown in theaters and on television, the toll free number is made to sound as if one is actually calling the motel in which the film is set. In the background, screaming can be heard accompanying the voice of the proprietor, who informs callers about "slashing" prices and the "killer" deals that the motel has—that is, if it is not vacant. The toll free phone number for the ad is 1-888-9-VACANCY (1-888-9-8222629). The voice of the proprietor is Frank Whaley who plays Mason in the film.
As of October 6, 2009, the toll-free phone number for the ad, 1-888-9-VACANCY (1-888-9-8222629) is still valid. Though instead of it starting off as it goes right to Mason, it says "Hello, thanks for calling. Please press 1 to make reservations at the Pine-Wood Motel, Press 2 to buy tickets for Vacancy off of Fandango, Press 3 for an operator." When the number was changed where pressing 2 would go to buying tickets to Vacancy off of Fandango the film was already gone from the theaters for almost a year and a half.
Since Vacancy is long gone from the theaters, pressing two disconnects you. Pressing one plays the normal intro, pressing two takes you to the front desk, pressing zero plays a scratchy recording of a call to the operator. When disconnected on the recording, it too disconnects you from the call.
In addition, the phone call also refers the caller to the film's website, which is also set up to be the site of the actual motel. After calling, one is given a "promotional code" (8889) which can be entered at the website, which then shows previews of the snuff film
s that the motel proprietor and various people created, taken from the set. It was assisted and directed by Julie Tsaruhas.
However, as of February 14, 2011, the phone number is no longer working. The automated response says the phone number is not available at the moment.
, the same writer from the first film, and directed by Eric Bross. The film stars Agnes Bruckner
and Trevor Wright
. The prequel focuses on the events happened before the first film, where it will show how the motel's employees started their crazy intentions.
Horror film
Horror films seek to elicit a negative emotional reaction from viewers by playing on the audience's most primal fears. They often feature scenes that startle the viewer through the means of macabre and the supernatural, thus frequently overlapping with the fantasy and science fiction genres...
film, starring Luke Wilson
Luke Wilson
Luke Cunningham Wilson is an American film actor known for his roles in Old School, Bottle Rocket, The Royal Tenenbaums, Legally Blonde, Idiocracy and Death at a Funeral.-Early life:...
and Kate Beckinsale
Kate Beckinsale
Kathryn Bailey "Kate" Beckinsale is an English actress. After some minor television roles, she made her film debut in Much Ado About Nothing while still a student at Oxford University...
. It was distributed by Screen Gems
Screen Gems
Screen Gems is an American movie production company and subsidiary company of Sony Pictures Entertainment's Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group that has served several different purposes for its parent companies over the decades since its incorporation....
and was released on April 20, 2007. Production was scheduled to commence in August 2006 with Nimród Antal signing on to direct it.
Early in the film's development, it was thought that Sarah Jessica Parker
Sarah Jessica Parker
Sarah Jessica Parker is an American film, television, and theater actress and producer.She is best known for her leading role as Carrie Bradshaw on the HBO television series Sex and the City , for which she won four Golden Globe Awards, three Screen Actors Guild Awards, and two Emmy Awards...
was going to be in the film. A September 2006 article in The Hollywood Reporter
The Hollywood Reporter
Formerly a daily trade magazine, The Hollywood Reporter re-launched in late 2010 as a unique hybrid publication serving the entertainment industry and a consumer audience...
announced that Kate Beckinsale
Kate Beckinsale
Kathryn Bailey "Kate" Beckinsale is an English actress. After some minor television roles, she made her film debut in Much Ado About Nothing while still a student at Oxford University...
had signed on to replace Parker.
Plot
A couple, David (Luke WilsonLuke Wilson
Luke Cunningham Wilson is an American film actor known for his roles in Old School, Bottle Rocket, The Royal Tenenbaums, Legally Blonde, Idiocracy and Death at a Funeral.-Early life:...
) and Amy Fox (Kate Beckinsale
Kate Beckinsale
Kathryn Bailey "Kate" Beckinsale is an English actress. After some minor television roles, she made her film debut in Much Ado About Nothing while still a student at Oxford University...
) take a wrong turn on a remote mountain road. When their car breaks down, they realize they are in a cell phone dead zone, with no reception. They then decide to check into a completely isolated motel in a rural area with a strangely off-putting manager called Mason (Frank Whaley
Frank Whaley
Frank Joseph Whaley is an American film and television actor known for his roles in independent films.-Personal life:Whaley was born in Syracuse, New York, the son of Josephine and Robert W. Whaley, Sr. He is half-Irish and half-Sicilian and grew up in Syracuse. He has two sisters and an older...
).
While in their room, a bored David takes a peek at the video tapes left on top of the television. As he watches the tapes, he realizes they are snuff film
Snuff film
A snuff film is a motion picture genre that depicts the actual death or murder of a person or people, without the aid of special effects, for the express purpose of distribution and entertainment or financial exploitation. For-profit snuff films are generally regarded as an urban legend, whose...
s, taken in the very room in which they are staying. The couple are alarmed by this as well as loud, insistent banging coming from the door to the adjacent room, and try to run away. Men dressed in blue and wearing masks stop them, and they return to their room. David makes a run to the motel's payphone booth to no avail, escaping it just before a car crashes into it. The couple decides to lock themselves in the room when they notice a truck pull in. They try to warn the truck driver only to find out that he's actually there to buy a box of tapes of the snuff films.
David and Amy escape into a tunnel that they discover in the bathroom of their room. Two of the masked people chase them inside the tunnel, but the couple evade them. David and Amy end up inside the manager's lair, where they find video monitors taping the entire hotel. Amy tries to make a call to 911 but is interrupted before she can give the operator any useful information. The couple sneak back into the tunnel, making their way into the auto garage across the lot from the motel. Meanwhile, the police unit responding to Amy's call arrives and David and Amy run to him as he checks the rooms. They all get inside the police car but it has been sabotaged and the killers murder the policeman while he looks under the hood.
The couple run into one of the other motel rooms. David hides Amy in a space inside the ceiling, whilst he ventures out. The killers catch and stab David and he ends up lying unconscious in the doorway. When morning comes, Amy comes down from the ceiling and finds where the killers hid their car. As Amy drives away, a killer breaks into the car from the sun roof, and in her effort to fend him off while driving, Amy crashes the car into the motel, killing her attacker as well as another one of the masked men, revealed to be the gas station attendant that earlier "helped" the couple with their car troubles, who is crushed against the front of the car. She runs into the reception area where she finds a revolver. In an effort in reaching the revolver, an apoplectic Mason strangles her with a telephone cord. As they fight, Mason beats Amy severely. But in his effort to get a good final shot with his hand-held digital video camera, Mason throws Amy within reach of a revolver she had dropped, and she shoots Mason three times. Amy immediately runs to David to find that he is still barely alive. She searches Mason's body carefully for the telephone cord he had pulled out of the wall and tried to use to strangle her, calls 911 again and returns to caress David, who is barely conscious but alive.
Cast
- Luke WilsonLuke WilsonLuke Cunningham Wilson is an American film actor known for his roles in Old School, Bottle Rocket, The Royal Tenenbaums, Legally Blonde, Idiocracy and Death at a Funeral.-Early life:...
as David Fox - Kate BeckinsaleKate BeckinsaleKathryn Bailey "Kate" Beckinsale is an English actress. After some minor television roles, she made her film debut in Much Ado About Nothing while still a student at Oxford University...
as Amy Fox - Frank WhaleyFrank WhaleyFrank Joseph Whaley is an American film and television actor known for his roles in independent films.-Personal life:Whaley was born in Syracuse, New York, the son of Josephine and Robert W. Whaley, Sr. He is half-Irish and half-Sicilian and grew up in Syracuse. He has two sisters and an older...
as Mason - Ethan EmbryEthan EmbryEthan Philan Randall , although he is known and usually credited as Ethan Embry, is an American film and television actor. He is known for his role as Declan Giggs on the Showtime television series Brotherhood.-Personal life:...
as Mechanic - Scott G. Anderson as Killer
Reception
Vacancy opened at #4 in its first week at the box office grossing $7.6 million at 2,551 locations. In its second week, the film had a 45.9% drop-off, falling to a #8 position. The film has grossed a total of $28.4 million worldwide. The film received mixed reviews, with Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
giving the film an average rating of 55%. "Vacancy's restraint with gore is commendable", said one critic. The Rotten Tomatoes "Cream of the Crop" raters scored it a "rotten," average of 58%.
DVD release
Vacancy was released on DVD on August 14, 2007 in both fullscreen and anamorphic widescreen, with Dolby Digital 5.1 audio. Special features include deleted sceneDeleted scene
In Entertainment, especially the film and television industry, Deleted scenes are parts of a film removed or censored from or replaced by another scene in the final "cut", or version, of a film...
s, a making-of featurette, the full versions of the snuff film
Snuff film
A snuff film is a motion picture genre that depicts the actual death or murder of a person or people, without the aid of special effects, for the express purpose of distribution and entertainment or financial exploitation. For-profit snuff films are generally regarded as an urban legend, whose...
s, and a trailer gallery. It was also released on Blu-ray Disc
Blu-ray Disc
Blu-ray Disc is an optical disc storage medium designed to supersede the DVD format. The plastic disc is 120 mm in diameter and 1.2 mm thick, the same size as DVDs and CDs. Blu-ray Discs contain 25 GB per layer, with dual layer discs being the norm for feature-length video discs...
and UMD
Universal Media Disc
The Universal Media Disc is an optical disc medium developed by Sony for use on their PlayStation Portable handheld gaming and multimedia platform...
for the PSP
PlayStation Portable
The is a handheld game console manufactured and marketed by Sony Corporation Development of the console was announced during E3 2003, and it was unveiled on , 2004, at a Sony press conference before E3 2004...
. Many versions shipped to Australia featured Sony DVD "anti-piracy" technology, which led to them being unreadable on most DVD players, including Sony DVD players. The DVD featured a commentary by Nimrod Antal, Kate Beckinsale and Luke Wilson, all of whom claimed they thought the film was a great addition to the horror genre and for not using gore for scares but using psychological horror.
Advertising and promotion
The advertising strategy for the film has made use of the InternetInternet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
as well as a toll-free phone number. In addition to the TV spots and trailers shown in theaters and on television, the toll free number is made to sound as if one is actually calling the motel in which the film is set. In the background, screaming can be heard accompanying the voice of the proprietor, who informs callers about "slashing" prices and the "killer" deals that the motel has—that is, if it is not vacant. The toll free phone number for the ad is 1-888-9-VACANCY (1-888-9-8222629). The voice of the proprietor is Frank Whaley who plays Mason in the film.
As of October 6, 2009, the toll-free phone number for the ad, 1-888-9-VACANCY (1-888-9-8222629) is still valid. Though instead of it starting off as it goes right to Mason, it says "Hello, thanks for calling. Please press 1 to make reservations at the Pine-Wood Motel, Press 2 to buy tickets for Vacancy off of Fandango, Press 3 for an operator." When the number was changed where pressing 2 would go to buying tickets to Vacancy off of Fandango the film was already gone from the theaters for almost a year and a half.
Since Vacancy is long gone from the theaters, pressing two disconnects you. Pressing one plays the normal intro, pressing two takes you to the front desk, pressing zero plays a scratchy recording of a call to the operator. When disconnected on the recording, it too disconnects you from the call.
In addition, the phone call also refers the caller to the film's website, which is also set up to be the site of the actual motel. After calling, one is given a "promotional code" (8889) which can be entered at the website, which then shows previews of the snuff film
Snuff film
A snuff film is a motion picture genre that depicts the actual death or murder of a person or people, without the aid of special effects, for the express purpose of distribution and entertainment or financial exploitation. For-profit snuff films are generally regarded as an urban legend, whose...
s that the motel proprietor and various people created, taken from the set. It was assisted and directed by Julie Tsaruhas.
However, as of February 14, 2011, the phone number is no longer working. The automated response says the phone number is not available at the moment.
Prequel
Vacancy 2: The First Cut is written by Mark L. SmithMark L. Smith
Mark L. Smith is an American director and screenwriter.-Career:He wrote and directed his first movie in 2006, called Séance, which won the Festival Prize at the Eureka Springs Digital Film Festival and the Horror Genre Award at ShockFest...
, the same writer from the first film, and directed by Eric Bross. The film stars Agnes Bruckner
Agnes Bruckner
Agnes Bruckner is an American actress. She began acting on television in the late 1990s and has since appeared in seven films, including The Woods, Blue Car, and Murder By Numbers.-Early life:...
and Trevor Wright
Trevor Wright
Trevor Christopher Wright is an American actor.Wright was born in Pomona, California. His breakthrough acting role was in the 2007 film Shelter....
. The prequel focuses on the events happened before the first film, where it will show how the motel's employees started their crazy intentions.
External links
- Vacancy - Nimród Antal - Interview in the Dark on IFILMIFilmifilm.com was an online archive of short films, movie trailers, and other video clips of interest. Ifilm.com was originally founded by independent filmmaker Raphael Raphael in 1997 as an independent film and media collective...